Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea,
between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the
east

Area:

603,700 sq km (233,090 sq miles).

Description: Ukraine is bordered by the Russian Federation to the north and
east; Belarus to the north; Poland, the Slovak Republic and Hungary
to the west; and Romania and Moldova to the southwest. It is a
varied country with mountains in the west, plains in the centre and
the Black Sea views to the south. The north of the state is
dominated by forests. Its other two main features are wooded steppe
with beech and oak forests and the treeless steppe. The River
Dnieper divides Ukraine roughly in half, and flows into the Black
Sea.

Population:

46.4 million (2008 estimate).

language:

Ukrainian is the sole official state language. It is still widely
spoken in western and central Ukraine, although Russian is spoken by
virtually everyone. Russian is the main language spoken in Kyiv,
eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

Ukraine has large areas of very fertile land, which give it its
reputation as the ��?bread basket' of the former Soviet Union. Grain,
sugar beet and vegetables are the main crops and there is extensive
livestock farming. The country also boasts large mineral resources,
particularly coal in the huge Donbass fields, as well as iron ore,
manganese and titanium.

There are a few reserves of gas and oil but Ukraine has to import over
three-quarters of its requirements of these products from elsewhere,
mainly from the Russian Federation, and in recent years has seen its
supply temporarily cut off by Russian energy giant Gazprom in protest
at non-payment of bills.

Today, the Ukrainian economy is fairly robust: annual GDP growth is
now 7% (2007), while inflation remains problematically high at 16.6%
(2007). Officially, unemployment is 2.5% of the workforce (2007), but
a large ��?grey' economy has evolved, which some estimates put at half
the size of the legitimate economy.

Negotiations for Ukraine's membership of the World Trade Organization
are ongoing. Several of Ukraine's neighbours are now EU members.
Ukraine itself is far from a condition in which it might be accepted
for EU membership, but this is bound to have a major impact on the
country's economic policy-making.

Economy: Ukraine has large areas of very fertile land, which give it its
reputation as the ��?bread basket' of the former Soviet Union. Grain,
sugar beet and vegetables are the main crops and there is extensive
livestock farming. The country also boasts large mineral resources,
particularly coal in the huge Donbass fields, as well as iron ore,
manganese and titanium.

There are a few reserves of gas and oil but Ukraine has to import over
three-quarters of its requirements of these products from elsewhere,
mainly from the Russian Federation, and in recent years has seen its
supply temporarily cut off by Russian energy giant Gazprom in protest
at non-payment of bills.

Today, the Ukrainian economy is fairly robust: annual GDP growth is
now 7% (2007), while inflation remains problematically high at 16.6%
(2007). Officially, unemployment is 2.5% of the workforce (2007), but
a large ��?grey' economy has evolved, which some estimates put at half
the size of the legitimate economy.

Negotiations for Ukraine's membership of the World Trade Organization
are ongoing. Several of Ukraine's neighbours are now EU members.
Ukraine itself is far from a condition in which it might be accepted
for EU membership, but this is bound to have a major impact on the
country's economic policy-making.